The Art of Doing Nothing # 5: Master of all He Surveys
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 21/02/2009)
So fascinating to observe all these people sitting at a café. Even doing nothing the characters are so obvious: in the way they sit, the way they cross their arms or legs, the way they look around…that one, for example, really seemed to own the whole world!
The Art of Doing Nothing # 4: Difference of Opinion
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 27/01/2009)
It was very diffcult to capture the woman telling her story… I did what I could!
I was fascinated by the incredibly excited expression on the face and body position of the woman listening to her…
The Art of Doing Nothing # 3: Summit Meeting
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 15/01/2009)
Quite regularly I go to a Cafe by the Beach, and sketch people spending their time there.
It is a great way for me to practise live sketching.
Well, people are quite still sitting on a Cafe terrace in the sun, but they still move quite a lot and it is a wonderful (but sometimes frustrating too!) exercise to try to catch them in some position or expression.
I much more prefer this way than to go to some figure painting meeting, where the models stand still, almost dead… this does not inspire me at all, and neither does their nakedness I must admit! I much more love to draw the stuff which people put on, sometimes they are such a funny mirror of their souls… no funny clothing on this one though.
In this case it was the contrast between the Macho with the black hair and the other people which inspired me…
The Art of Doing Nothing # 2: Café Life
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 15/01/2009)
One more example of this exciting life here, in Andalucia, by the sea… simply sitting in Cafés and doing nothing.
Well this kind of life might be exciting for most of the people down here, but it is not exactly my way of enjoying life… but I do enjoy watching and sketching people having this kind of life!
The Art of Reading # 7 : Chain Readers 2
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 14/01/2009)
Back at Cafe Masko yesterday… and again they were all reading a newspaper…
but this time, with the exception thats proves the rule!
The Art of Reading # 6 : Chain Readers
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 13/01/2009)
On the way back from the Driving Range yesterday, my sporty Rocker Kev Moore invited me to a coffee with a doughnut in our lovely Cafe Masco, by the beach in Mojacar, where last spring I used to sketch people. It was a little late already and most of the people had gone home for lunch, but some tables were still busy… and invariably, at each of them, there was somebody reading a newspaper…
so I simply put them all together in this sketch, which represents quite well what most of the population are doing here, in Andalucia, on a sunny day…
My Big Little Friend Samson
(Pastel & Colour Pencils on Paper, 65 x 50 cm, 2008)
Michael J. Anderson, in “Carnivale”
Kevin had heard of the series Carnivale through a comedian friend, who told him that it was his favourite. We ordered it at once, but I resisted a long time before I agreed to watch it. First, as I heard it came from Tony, I thought it would be some comedy stuff, and I really don’t tend to look at comedy films, as I generally don’t appreciate so much the humour they use in films or series. And anyway, it’s much too difficult to understand for me in English. But as I saw the cover of Carnivale, and read the synopsis, I realised that it was much more some kind of dark psychedelic story, also not my thing either!
Anyway, at some point, as nothing else was left in our DVD-othek, we looked at it. And I must say that from the very first moment I was charmed by that Little Man introducing the story. Finally I really loved the series, although it was indeed heavy stuff, and I could not help thinking, many times,
“I would love such a little man as my friend…”
And funny, once again, to realise which kind of things that comedians look in private…. I was always told that clowns are the saddest people in the world!
Jeff Christie Now and Then
(Pastel & Colour Pencils on Paper, 65 x 50 cm, 2008)
Kevin is going back on stage with Christie next year. I am sure that some of you know Jeff Christie, or at least his famous international hits: Yellow River, Iron Horse, San Bernadino… even I know them, and I am really crap at English music normally (says Kevin… he even says French boycott English music…)
I was busy making the promo design for Christie 2009 these last weeks and at the end, after having seen all these photos of Jeff Christie, I felt the need to make a portrait of him. He has got such interesting features, and a very expressive face when he sings, so in fact, the perfect subject! And as I did for Obama, I did not really want to feature the star, but The Man.
In this portrait I wanted also to include the notion of time passing by and, simultaneously, the timelessness of a great song and a great musician. This is why I included in the background, on the left, Jeff Christie as he interpreted for the first time Yellow River, about 40 years ago! And another 2 Jeff Christies representing the 80′s and 90′s.
Thanks, Jeff, for these wonderful songs which always make me feel incredibly alive when I listen to them!
PS: if you want to know and see more about Christie, please go the Yellow River site.
PPS: Si un promoteur francais lit ce billet, je l’en supplie, qu’il fasse tout son possible pour organiser un concert de Christie en France… ne serait-ce que pour prouver à ces anglais que nous ne boycottons pas leur musique! En plus, nous avons bien profité de Yellow River, n’est-ce-pas, sous le titre de “L’Amérique” par Joe Dassin! Alors la France lui doit bien çà, à Jeff Christie!
Barack Obama – 2 – : Smile of Victory
(Pastel & Colour Pencils on Paper, 65 x 50 cm, 2008)
Just another portrait painting from the series “Barack Obama”
Prints of this painting can be purchased directly online, in many different sizes, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting card. Please click on the widget below if you are interested
Barack Obama – 1 – : Yes We Can!
(Based on a photo by Bill Burke, pageonephoto.com)
So, my first Barack Obama portrait is finished.
I think it is quite different from the portraits I have seen from him on the net. On most of them the artists emphasize only one aspect of his personality.
This is not what I wanted.
I wanted to paint Obama as a human being, with all his facets:
his humanity, his leadership, his honesty, his hopes, his decisiveness…
Of course I never met him personally, so it can only be the Barack Obama I perceive through the TV and the photos I have seen from him. And I saw all of these qualities on his face.
I can only hope that I have caught a little bit of his soul…
And if you are wondering what he is counting…. words of course:
“Yes We Can!”
My special thanks go to Bill, from pageonephoto.com, who allowed me to use one of his photos to make this portrait.
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Contact me at miki@goodaboom.com
